Stirring the Venomous Wasp Nest

"Aurelia."

"Yes?"

Neraxis pointed towards the nest right above them; a single toddler-sized wasp was sticking out from it.

"Shoot that."

She seemed confused for a moment, but nonetheless, did as she was told, aiming her staff straight at the nest and firing a single beam of light.

It landed very fast, and immediately, the nest fell apart, its pieces landing right beside them.

However, despite a couple of venomous wasps caught in the crossfire, the rest remained huddled together.

Before they could scatter and begin attacking the rest of his team, Neraxis stretched out his hand.

Bluish-purple light converged and flew toward the Venomous Wasps as though it were some kind of aurora.

And before any of the wasps could react, the aurora suddenly expanded, enveloping each and every one of them in the radius.

The star-filled flames surged out but quickly died down, causing the Venomous Wasps to fall onto the cold, hard ground below them.

But the moment their bodies came into contact with the ground, they turned to ash, scattering around them.

[14x (F+ Ranked Monster) Venomous Wasp Slain! Reward: Stigmata 28% -> 56%]

Neraxis heaved a sigh of relief. That was satisfying. Though, Evangeline? Why did it only increase by 2% per monster? Shouldn't F+ be 5%?

[Depends on the monster's rarity. The Scrapfang you killed was considered a mini-boss; therefore, you got more progress. Though, in the end, the percentages only change something for me. Your progress steadily increases nonetheless.] Evangeline explained patiently.

Oh, and here I thought you were zapping away the mana I was absorbing. Neraxis chuckled before turning to his team.

However, they were all looking at him with widened eyes, especially Raeny.

"I thought you were a swordsman?" She expressed with a hint of disbelief, with the rest of the team nodding after her.

Since she was not being annoying, he decided to tease a little—it might even get their spirits back up. "I am, though? I clearly slashed in the air."

"You didn't..."

"I did, right Aurelia?" He turned towards Aurelia, who had been fidgeting with her staff all this time.

"Y-Yes... Huh?" She replied without even paying attention to the question, but before she could correct herself, he interrupted.

"See? Raeny, you might just be seeing things." Neraxis stated with a shrug, ignoring the glare that was forming on her face.

Anyways... I'll be able to unlock the seal in just a couple more nests. This progress really is something else. He thought, before opening up his status screen.

+-----+

Status

Name: Neraxis Valen

Stigmata: [Fragment of Calamity {56%} (Seals Unlocked: 0)]

Age: 16

--Stats:

Rank: F

Strength: G+ -> F-

Agility: F-

Stamina: F-

Intelligence: F+

Mana Capacity: F+

--Secondary Stats:

Luck: G-

Charm: C-

--Skills:

[Eve of Ruin {G}] *

[Swordsmanship {G}]

[Stellar Dominion {A}]

[Minor Reflect {D}]

[Sword Dash {F}]

[Restorative Cut {E}]

+-----+

All my stats are at least F- ranked now. He nodded to himself when Raeny suddenly spoke up.

"What's the cooldown on that skill you used?"

Since Neraxis did not mind sharing, he said, "5 minutes, best to wait between each nest."

But it appeared his little announcement caused more of a stir than he thought.

"You can use that overpowered skill every 5 minutes!?" Aella shouted out from the side, her high-pitched voice practically piercing his innocent ears.

"Don't be so loud..." He shook his head to the side at her antics. "It's a good skill, but I don't doubt you all have skills that are equally as good."

At his words, they all fell silent, not wanting to share their secrets with someone they did not know.

As for him? He couldn't care less; a target would be on his head by the second semester at the latest.

Neraxis took a glance at the faraway nest before proceeding to nod at Aurelia. By the time they got there, his skill would be off cooldown.

It was a blessing these venomous wasps were deaf, because if they weren't, Aella's scream would have attracted all of them.

Shortly after their little walk, they arrived right below a nest. It was slightly bigger than the rest.

However, Neraxis quickly noticed another nest not too far away. It was highly likely that the vibrations would cause them to come in attacking at different intervals.

Therefore, he quickly devised a plan. "Aurelia, do you think you could time the destruction of that nest with the one closest to us? I want the venomous wasps to be in one big group."

"That... I think I can do it." She replied, with an ember of confidence arising in her eyes.

"Good, give me a minute or two, the cooldown is about to finish." Neraxis stated before sitting down on the ground and taking off his bag.

There was a bit of food stored inside, since he wasn't planning on staying long; however, he only took some delicious cookies along. He hated the MREs provided by the academy.

Immediately, he began munching on them, attracting the attention of the girls beside him.

Noticing this, he fiddled around in his bag before pulling out 3 more packets and placing them on the ground. "Take your pick."

As soon as his words fell, the least likely candidate dashed forward and picked up the chocolate chip cookies off the ground, shocking those around her.

Aurelia had a faint smile on her face that only lasted a few moments as her expression fell, turning to the rest of the team. "Sorry... d-did you want some too?"

However, both Aella and Raeny shook their heads before saying:

"You're good."

"You can have it."

Hearing that, her expression immediately softened as she went to the side and began unwrapping the cookies, stuffing her mouth just like Neraxis.

The rest of the team went up and picked a packet each before heading back to their respective places and sitting down.

Pfft... I wish it was always this peaceful. Neraxis thought with a small chuckle before taking a glance toward the others and then, toward the two nests above them.

I wonder? Will it be enough to unlock the seal?